Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and at the Precourt Institute for Energy

Bio

Prof. Charles D. Kolstad is an energy and environmental economist with a research focus on regulation. Much of his applied work is in the area of climate change and energy markets. He has been a Convening Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize), is a founding Co-Editor of the Oxford University Press journal Review of Environmental Economics & Policy and has served on many advisory boards. He is a former president of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE).

At Stanford, in addition to his affiliation with the Department of Economics, Prof. Kolstad holds senior fellow appointments in the Precourt Institute for Energy (PIE), the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Woods Institute for the Environment. Prior to joining Stanford in 2012, Prof. Kolstad was on the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was a Bren Distinguished Professor of Environmental Economics, Chair of the Department of Economics and co-director of the system-wide University of California Center for Energy and Environmental Economics (UCE3). He is a University Fellow at Resources for the Future (Washington, DC), a Fellow of CESifo (Munich) and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (Cambridge, MA).

PhD students who wish to study with him (or another Stanford professor in the field of environmental, resource or energy economics) should first apply to a degree-granting department or program at Stanford (such as Economics, Management Science & Engineering, the Graduate School of Business or the Emmet Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources), mentioning my name (no need to contact me in advance). See further information in the link at the side of this page ("Info for Prospective PhD Students").

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

My research interests are broadly in environmental economics and related areas of industrial organization and public economics. My policy-related focus within these fields is climate change and energy markets.

I currently have several projects related to uncertainty and learning in strategic contexts regarding the provision of public goods. For the most part, the application is international environmental agreements. This work is primarily theoretical, though with some empirical and experimental work to validate and illuminate theory. I also have research interests in energy economics (particularly regulation) and other dimensions of the economics of climate change.

I welcome new PhD students who wish to study with me. Typically, my students train to be environmental or resource economists, which means they receive strong training in economics. At Stanford this means successfully taking the first year PhD sequences in microeconomics (Econ 202-204) and econometrics (Econ 270-272) offered by the Department of Economics. In addition, students should take the PhD classes Economics 250 (Environmental Economics) and 251 (Resource and Energy Economics). This is a minimum and other coursework would depend on student interest and needs. Strong preparation in math is essential.

There are a number of PhD programs at Stanford that are appropriate for someone seeking training as an environmental economist. In addition to the Department of Economics, there are several other departments in which students may apply and matriculate, including the Emmet Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER).

COP6: Observations of an Interested BystanderEnergy Policies and Markets: New Trends or Old Cycles?Kolstad, C. D.Fundacion Repso.2001: 75–82

Comment on ‘Environmental Policy and Firm Behavior: Abatement Investment and Location Decisions under Uncertainty and Irreversibility’ by Anastasios XepapedeasBehavioral and Distributional Effects of Environmental PolicyKolstad, C. D.University of Chicago Press for National Bureau of Economic Research.2001: 306–307

The Law and Economics of Hazardous M aterials Transportation: Regulating Harm by Administrative Agency and by Tort LiabilityTransportation of Hazardous Materials: Issues in Law, Social Science and EngineeringKolstad, C. D., Ulen, T.Kluwer Academic Publishers.1993

A Capital-Labor-Energy Model of Fuel Demand in the Manufacturing Sector of Seven Major OECD CountriesProceedings, Seventh Annual International Confer ence of International Association of Energy EconomistsKolstad, C. D.1985: 13–32